This paper refers to a research carried out in the state of Sergipe between 2004 and 2006, with 362 pupils from 1st to 5th grade of elementary school. The objectives are to comprehend the bases and processes of the pupils' relation to mathematics learning and verify the importance of fieldwork in revealing the representations and the hidden knowledge in the teaching/learning process. From the methodological point of view, the data were gathered by means of a questionnaire with 14 open questions. In addition to the general approach, the analysis introduces a double comparative point of view: between the two sexes and different levels of schooling. Research by Bernard Charlot and Claudine Blanchard-Laville on the relation with knowledge provides the theoretical framework. The results suggest that pupils have a better relationship with everyday objects and practices, like counting money, than with specifically mathematical objects. These results offer good indicators for a reflection from the perspective of didactics.
relation with knowledge; teaching of mathematics; didactics; educational practices